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The next month’s Champions Trophy cricket tournament in Pakistan is likely to be staged in only two cities after Rawalpindi was all but ruled out as a venue by a top ICC official today.
“It is a strong possibility that we reduce it two venues (Karachi and Lahore),” Haroon Logart, ICC chief executive said.
Karachi and Lahore hosted 13 Limited-overs internationals during the Asia Cup from June 24 to July 6 without incident.
While ICC security officials visited Karachi and Lahore during the Asia Cup, they did not travel to Rawalpindi.
“That didn’t provide us an opportunity to check the security arrangements, so there was no way we can formulate an opinion on Rawalpindi,” Logart said. Rawalpindi was originally scheduled to host five matches – including a semi-final.
However, Logart said a revised itinerary will be released in the next couple of days with Lahore and Karachi sharing Rawalpindi’s matches.
Logart is leading a six-member ICC delegation – that includes Federation of International Cricketers Association president Tim May – to check the security arrangements at Lahore and Karachi.
The delegation met for almost an hour today at the Pakistan Interior Ministry, where they were given briefing on the security arrangements.
May had previously expressed reservations over the players’ safety in Pakistan, while Australian allrounder Andrew Symonds and England captain Kevin Pietersen had also raised doubts over touring Pakistan for the September 11-28 tournament.
Logart refused to give details whether May expressed any reservations during the meeting.
“It’s not proper for me to single out any one person in the meeting,” he said. “We all share the same concerns, we have to ensure the safety of the players, the media and the concerns were all common.”
The delegation will visit Lahore later today to witness a dress rehearsal of travel arrangements for ferrying teams from the cricket ground to their hotel. They will also watch a similar drill at Karachi on Tuesday.
Australia is defending champion in the biennial tournament which also includes South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand, India, the West Indies and Pakistan.
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